


Little Miss America

by liionne



Series: A thousand ways to meet [28]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Pageants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-15
Updated: 2014-02-15
Packaged: 2018-01-12 14:08:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1188104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liionne/pseuds/liionne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim Kirk was the presenter of the Little Miss America pageant, and Leonard had no doubt why. Not only did the kid look pretty damn good in a suit (which would have kept the moms focused), but he was also full of himself, strutted across the stage as if he himself was a contestant, and spoke with a cocky grin and a suggestive tone to his voice. He was made to be a pageant presenter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Miss America

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta'd, expect mistakes. And this is one of those fics that I liked to begin with and hated by the end, so idk. It might be bad.

"Jojo, darlin', don't you think this is a bad idea?"

"No!"

"But Jojo-"

"Momma said I'd win!"

"Jo-"

"Momma said I'd _win_!"

"Momma said a lot of things."

The last sentence of Leonard McCoy's argument with his daughter was muttered as an aside, mostly to himself. Her momma had promised Leonard that she loved him, and that she'd always love him, and that Clay Treadway was a thing of the past.

Her momma was a fucking liar.

"Joanna, darlin'-" Leonard sighed, crouching down in front of her. The lobby of the fancy hotel room was busy, bustling with moms and grandmas and aunties and young girls. And in the midst of it all, he was trying to tell little Joanna that entering the Little Miss America beauty pageant was a bad idea.

"No!" She scowled, arms set across her chest. She had her father's stubbornness, and Leonard would have been proud if he wasn't so frustrated. "I'm Little Miss Georgia!" She pouted. "I wanna be Little Miss America too!"

Joanna had entered her first pageant when she was four. All she really wanted to do back then was dress up in pretty dresses and dance in front of an audience- she didn't care if she won or not. But then he mother had gotten competitive and had of course passed on her competitiveness to her young daughter.

Joanna had went on to win Little Miss Georgia when she was six. And now she was seven, and her momma wasn't around (she was in Figi with Treadway, that bastard) and it was left to Leonard to deal with the obsessive need to enter and win pageants.

Leonard didn't do pageants.

He was a neurosurgeon. A god damn _neurosurgeon_. How the hell was he expected to dress his daughter up and do her hair just right and put her make up on for her? How the hell was he supposed to play mom? He hadn't even been much of a _dad -_

Which was Reason Number Two why her momma had left him.

They didn't talk about Reason Number One.

"Leonard. She's going to win. So let her be."

Leonard looked up, and immediately began to grin.

"Carol." He said, a hand on Joanna's shoulder as he stood. "Thank god you're here."

Carol was an MRI Technician, had been Leonard's friend ever since he'd removed the tumor in her temporal lobe. She wasn't into all this pageant shit, but she was into Joanna and her happiness, especially since her mother had left. Carol was the closest thing she had to a mom.

"Aunty Carol!" She shrieked, wrapping tiny arms around her legs. "Aunty Carol, tell him I have to be in the competition."

"Leonard, she has to be in the competition." Carol told him levelly.

"But Carol-"

"She'll win, Len." Carol said, eyebrows raising. "She's the prettiest, smartest, bestest girl here." She grinned, looking down at the small girl that was still attached to her. "She'll be great."

Leonard huffed. "And you'll do her makeup and whatever?"

"Of course I will." Carol nodded. "You didn't think I'd let you do it, did you?"

And that was how Leonard got talked into the pageant.

~*~

It was also how Leonard met Jim Kirk.

Jim Kirk was the presenter of the Little Miss America pageant, and Leonard had no doubt why. Not only did the kid look pretty damn good in a suit (which would have kept the moms focused), but he was also full of himself, strutted across the stage as if he himself was a contestant, and spoke with a cocky grin and a suggestive tone to his voice. He was _made_ to be a pageant presenter.

And in order to judge Miss America (y'know, the one with the actual woman in bikinis and shit), you had to work your way up the ranks first.

Yeah, Leonard wasn't an idiot.

"Is she ready?" Leonard hissed, looking to Carol as she sat down beside him.

"She's ready." Carol nodded. "Who's that?" She nodded to the stage.

"The presenter." Leonard answered. "Jim Kirk."

"Looks like a cocky twat." Carol muttered, arms folding across her chest.

"Probably is." Leonard muttered.

Didn't make him any less attractive.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, the girls are ready to go. Our first round is the Summerwear round-" _code for "swim-suit round"_ "- and the girls are going to show off their favourite summer outfits."

Jim prattled on about the round for a good ten minutes before he introduced the first girl, who waltzed out and smiled, made a few poses, and left the stage again.

As a McCoy, Joanna was tenth of a group of twenty. Leonard had decided that that would mean the judges might not be being attention, seeing as she was in the middle.

Why he had come to that conclusion he wasn't sure.

She wore a one-piece that Leonard had never even seen before, but she looked so damn pretty, her hair done up and her face shining (literally, she was wearing enough glitter to sink a small ship).

Leonard's eyes flicked to Jim just as Joanna left the stage. He was watching her as if she was made of gold.

Sort of like Leonard was right now.

Maybe Jim Kirk wasn't so bad after all, he decided.

~*~

He then decided that Jim Kirk was actually a pretty damn good person (and he also had a great ass) during the Talent Show round.

Joanna had been doing ballet since she was 3 years old. She was almost an expert (in Leonard's eyes), and she never got nervous.

Except now. Now she got nervous.

Leonard could see her just off-stage, could see the end of the pink ballet slipper and the point of her elbow. Jim had introduced her, and the music had started, but she hadn't come out. And now the music had stopped, and Jim had come out to apologise for the delay.

"Technical hiccup." He said.

"Technical hiccup my ass." Leonard grumbled.

He watched Jim bend down, obviously getting to eye level with her, and it took him a moment to switch his gaze from Jim's ass to the little he could see of his daughter. She was scared, obviously.

"How do I get back stage?" Leonard asked Carol.

"That door." Carol pointed.

He was up and out his seat like a bullet from a gun.

He was back stage even faster, shoving past crowds of young girls and young women to get to the side of the stage, where his daughter was picking at her fingernails.

"Jojo, darlin', y'alright?" Leonard asked, immediately crouching down beside her.

She looked at her feet, and her lip quivered.

"She's just a little scared." Jim said, looking from the girl to her father and back again. "Isn't that right?"

Joanna nodded solemnly.

"But she's not got anything to worry about." Jim continued, before Leonard could even get a word in. "Because she's a great dancer. I've seen her practising with your wife."

"Not my wife." Leonard mumbled.

He knew Jim had heard by the slight raise of his eyebrows, but he carried on regardless.

"And you know what," Jim dropped his voice to a whisper, crouched down a little lower. "She's the best dancer here."

"I am?" Joanna asked, eyes wide.

"Uh-huh." Jim nodded. "Isn't that right, dad?"

"That's right." Leonard nodded, looking at Jim with clear surprise before looking back at Joanna.

She was looking at Jim anyway.

"You gonna do the dance?" Jim asked. "You can't win without it."

Joanna paused, before nodding fervently. "I wanna do the dance."

"There's a good girl." Jim grinned, patting her shoulder. "Now say goodbye to your daddy- he's gonna want to see this from the audience."

She threw her arms around Leonard's neck, rubbing glitter against his cheek as she hugged him.

"You're gonna do great," Leonard told her, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Go on and win, darlin'."

She nodded, smiling as she waited for her cue.

Jim was about to go on stage to announce her again before Leonard caught him, a hand on the tip of his arm to hold him in place.

"Thanks." He said, earnest as ever.

Jim smiled. "No problem. She's great, by the way. The best."

Whether Jim meant it or not, Leonard didn't know. But his smile had certainly been less cocky, and less arrogant. More sincere.

Maybe Jojo could win after all.

~*~

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, we have our winners."

The girls had been assembled on the stage, stood in their "Formal wear", waiting with baited breath. Leonard was, quite literally, sat on the edge of his seat. Carol chuckled as she watched, rolling her eyes at him (Leonard knew she was sitting on the edge of her seat on the inside though).

"In third place, we have lovely Gracie Marshall. A round of applause or Gracie."

A round of applause, and Gracie walked a few steps forward, gave a curtsy, and stepped back.

"And in second place, of course, we have the absolutely gorgeous Sophie Boyce, give it up for Sophie."

Another round of applause, and little Sophie Boyce came forward to curtsy. Leonard was cursing silently under his breath. Either Joanna had won, or she hadn't even come in third place.

And she at least deserved first place.

"And finally, this year's Little Miss America is..." Jim had to open a golden envelope, and he grinned when he saw the name printed on the card.

Leonard knew exactly who the winner was.

"Joanna McCoy!"

Joanna all but burst on the spot. She took a few shaky steps forward, and curtsied.

Leonard was on his feet so fast that his chair hit the lady behind.

When he collected Joanna after the show, with her Little Miss America sash and her tiara and her bouquet of flowers. She smiled brightly, like she might just implode.

As she was getting a few photographs taken, Jim came over to talk to the two of them.

"I knew she was going to win. She's a good kid. You two have a great daughter." He complimented, grinning.

"Our daughter?" Carol scoffed. "No. His daughter. You really think I'd shack up with him?"

"Was that necessary?" Leonard asked, turning to look at her, scowling. "Seriously?"

"I just had to clarify." Carol said, turning to Jim. "I have a girlfriend. She's lovely. She's a linguist. At Yale. She teaches."

"Shut up." Leonard told her.

Jim watched the exchange with amusement.

"You sure you two aren't married?" He asked.

"Sure." Carol nodded.

Jim paused, before he grinned. "Good."

Joanna's photoshoot was just finishing as Jim wrote his number in the palm of Leonard's hand, pressing a kiss to his cheek just as his daughter stepped closer.

"Call me." Jim told him, stepping away with a wink.

"Daddy! Is my tiara okay?" Joanna asked, fingers curling around the glittery silver tiara.

"Perfect, darlin'. Absolutely perfect." Leonard nodded, hoisting her up onto his hip.

"You did really well, kiddo." Jim grinned. "Told you'd win, didn't I?"

Joanna nodded, smiling.

"Mister Jim, you should come over for ice cream." Joanna told him, arms winding around her father's neck. "Daddy says we're having ice cream now. Winners have ice cream."

Jim laughed, and Leonard decided that he definitely liked that sound.

"Winners do have ice cream." He nodded. "But I don't think I can."

"But why?" Joanna pouted.

"Because-"

"Because daddy hasn't asked him yet." Leonard finished for him, smiling. "Would you like to come over for ice cream, Jim?"

Jim paused, and his eyes flicked to Leonard's palm, where the ink had only just dried. Obviously he had expected their first date to be something a bit more... mature. But hey, Leonard liked ice cream. Jim probably liked ice cream too.

So they should really have ice cream together.

"I'm in." Jim nodded. "Ice cream's my favourite."


End file.
